THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN 

MINISTER 

AN  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

TOGETHER  WITH  THE^^g"  ^^;^ 

ADDRESS  OF  PRESENTATION 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN 

MINISTER 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

OF 

EZRA  SQUIER  TIPPLE,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

PRESIDENT  OF  DREW  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

TOGETHER  WITH  THE 

ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME  AND  PRESENTATION 

OF 

HENRY  ANSON  BUTTZ,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

PRESIDENT-EMERITUS  AND  PROFESSOR 
OF  NEW  TESTAMENT  EXEGESIS 


FOUNDERS  DAY 
THURSDAY,  OCTOBER  24,  1912 
MADISON,  NEW  JERSEY 


ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME  AND  PRESENTATION 


BY  PRESIDENT-EMERITUS  BUTTZ 

Mr.  President^  Honored  Guests  and  Delegates^  Trustees  and 

Alumnt_,  Friends  of  the  Seminary,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

The  Faculty  of  Drew  Theological  Seminary  have  assigned  to 
me  the  honor  and  the  pleasure  of  extending  to  you  all  a most 
cordial  welcome  to  the  Seminary  and  to  all  the  exercises  of  this 
Founders  Day.  Your  presence  and  interest  are  a benediction, 
and  the  inspiration  of  your  visit  to  us  will  long  be  felt  and  ap- 
preciated. 

Forty-five  years  have  passed  since  Drew  Theological  Semi- 
nary opened  its  doors  to  students.  They  have  been  years  of 
struggle  and  of  victory,  and  we  look  back  upon  her  history  with 
pardonable  pride.  It  is  not  my  province  at  this  time  to  dwell 
upon  her  past  achievements  or  her  present  position,  nor  to  speak 
of  her  Founders  and  Benefactors,  the  noble  men  and  women  who 
by  their  sacrifices  and  gifts  have  made  the  Seminary  what  it  is. 
Their  names  are  written  on  the  imperishable  records  of  our  hearts. 
The  Seminai*y  is  their  monumeut.  Nor  will  I speak  of  the  future 
of  the  Seminary,  which  is  full  of  promise,  and  we  believe  will 
receive  a new  impulse  from  this  occasion. 

To  every  department  of  our  Seminary  life  and  activities  we 
welcome  you  from  our  hearts. 

I have  also  the  honor  and  the  pleasure  on  behalf  of  the 
Faculty  to  welcome  the  Rev.  Ezra  Squier  Tipple,  Doctor  of  Phi- 
losophy, Doctor  of  Divinity,  as  the  President  of  Drew  Theologi- 
cal Seminary.  President  Tipple  does  not  come  to  us  as  a 
stranger.  He  is  at  home  here.  We  know  him  well  as  our  friend 
and  colaborer.  A graduate  of  Syracuse  University,  he  is  also  an 
alumnus  of  this  Seminary,  in  which  he  maintained  high  rank  as 
a student,  graduating  with  honor  in  the  class  of  1887  with  the 

3 


ADDKESS  OF  WELCOME  AND  PEESENTATION 


degree  of  Bachelor  of  Divinity.  Other  honorary  degrees  and 
positions  of  honor  have  been  conferred  upon  him  of  which  I may 
not  speak  to-day.  He  has  made  valuable  contributions  to  our 
Christian  literature.  His  whole  ministerial  life  as  a pastor  was 
passed  in  the  city  of  New  York,  where  he  secured  wide  experience 
and  made  full  proof  of  his  ministry.  His  call  to  be  the  Executive 
Secretary  of  the  Metropolitan  Thank-Offering  Movement  in  the 
city  of  New'  York  enabled  him  to  render  signal  service  in  that 
important  position.  Keturning  to  the  pastorate  of  a large 
church,  he  continued  until  1905,  when  he  was  elected  to  the  Pro- 
fessorship of  Practical  Theology  in  this  Seminary.  Having  filled 
successfully  that  important  chair,  he  has  now  been  called  to  be 
the  President  of  the  Seminary  with  which  he  has  been  so  long 
identified.  He  has  an  honorable  record  for  faithful  and  success- 
ful service,  in  which  we  rejoice  and  bid  him  welcome. 

President  Tipple:  In  this  presence  and  surrounded  by  so 
many  who  are  familiar  with  the  great  educational  problems  of 
the  times,  it  would  be  presumptuous  for  me  to  speak  of  the  re- 
sponsible position  to  which  you  have  been  called. 

To  guide  the  policies  of  the  Seminary;  to  enlarge  the  vision 
of  the  young  men  who  seek  their  theological  education  in  this 
place;  to  promote  in  our  rising  ministry  the  richest  experience 
and  the  noblest  life;  to  be  the  exemplar  and  the  mouthpiece  of 
the  school  in  its  relation  to  the  church  of  our  fellowship  and  the 
whole  Church  of  Christ  may  well  tax  the  coolest  head,  the  pro- 
foundest  Christian  experience,  the  amplest  learning,  and  the 
gentlest  and  stoutest  heart.  In  full  confidence  that  you  will 
meet  these  responsibilities  in  a manner  worthy  of  the  institution 
and  the  church,  we,  as  a Faculty,  at  the  very  entrance  upon  your 
office,  bid  you  welcome  and  assure  you  of  our  cordial  sympathy 
w'ith  your  labors  and  of  our  hearty  and  united  support. 

We  realize  that  this  occasion  and  this  hour  are  a call  to 
fresh  consecration  to  the  service  of  the  Seminary  which  demands 
of  us  sacrifice  and  service,  and  these  we  will  freely  give. 

There  are  things  on  which  I wish  to  congratulate  you.  You 

4 


ADDRESS  OF  ^yELCO]kIE  AND  PRESENTATION 


euter  upon  your  ofiice  at  a time  wlieu  great  questions  concerning 
ministerial  education  are  under  discussion  and  require  solution. 
You  have,  no  doubt,  studied  these  problems  which  are  so  vitally 
related  to  our  future  development  and  prosperity,  and  will  help 
in  deciding  them  wisely. 

Y'ou  enter  upon  your  office  also  with  a scholarly,  able,  and 
devoted  Faculty,  which  has  never  throughout  the  history  of  the 
Seminary  known  division  or  discord.  They  have  always  been 
loyal  to  their  president,  to  the  Seminary,  and  to  each  other.  I 
know  whereof  I speak,  for  I have  been  the  constant  recipient  of 
their  kindness  and  support.  You  know  them  too,  and  can  rely 
upon  them  in  every  emergency  that  requires  their  aid. 

You  come  into  your  office  with  a Board  of  Trustees,  I be- 
lieve, unsurpassed  by  any  Board  in  any  institution  of  learning. 
They  are  a Board  composed  of  wise  men  united  in  the  purpose  of 
making  this  Seminary  one  of  the  foremost  institutions  for  the 
promotion  of  high  ministerial  training.  They  have  been  proved 
in  the  crises  in  the  Seminary’s  history,  and  I know  from  personal 
experience  that  they  will  give  your  administration  their  united 
and  earnest  support. 

You  enter  upon  your  duties  with  a large,  noble,  and  influ- 
ential body  of  Alumni,  who  are  filling  with  success  all  the  varied 
activities  of  our  church  life,  in  her  episcopacy,  in  her  pastorates 
and  mission  fields  and  administrative  offices,  and  whose  labors 
for  Christ  are  belting  the  world.  I know  their  loyalty  and  devo- 
tion to  the  Seminary.  You  can  rely  upon  them. 

The  large  and  choice  body  of  students  who  are  now  here, 
gathered  from  our  own  land  and  the  mission  fields  of  the  church, 
who  with  eager  eyes  are  looking  forward  to  their  lifework,  give 
you  their  warm  hearts  and  have  already  learned  to  appreciate 
your  interest  and  care. 

The  dear  friends  everywhere  associated  in  love  and  sym- 
pathy with  the  Seminary,  whose  names  you  know,  many  of  whom 
are  here  to-day,  join  in  the  welcome  and  in  interest  in  this  oc- 


casion. 


<VDDIIESS  OP  WELCOME  AND  PRESENTATION 


In  this  new  position  to  which  j'ou  have  been  called  you  will 
maintain  the  traditions  of  Drew  Theological  Seminai’y.  Al- 
though her  history  is  a brief  one  compared  with  many 
theological  schools,  she  has  her  traditions,  and  they  are  precious 
to  her  Faculty,  Students,  and  Alumni.  I know  you  will  preserve 
them.  She  has  a spirit  which  has  pervaded  her  from  the  begin- 
ning. It  is  indefinable,  but  you  have  experienced  it  and  will 
cherish  it.  This  Seminary  represents  high  ministerial  scholar- 
ship in  her  Faculty  and  in  her  purpose  and  plans.  We  are  confi- 
dent that  you  will  advance  it  by  encouraging  the  scholarly  spirit 
and  by  enlarging  its  facilities,  material  and  intellectual  and 
spiritual. 

Drew  Theological  Seminary  accepts  God’s  Word  as  the  only 
infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice  for  the  Church  of  Christ. 
You  will  be  loyal  to  it.  She  is  in  harmony  with  the  great  evan- 
gelical and  missionary  and  philanthropic  movements  of  our  age; 
you  share  in  the  great  vision  of  a world  redeemed  and  saved 
through  the  gospel  of  Christ.  We  join  in  loving  fellowship  with 
all  branches  of  the  Church  of  Christ  and  with  all  sister  educa- 
tional institutions,  and  you,  I know,  share  in  the  hope  of  a united 
Christendom. 

A personal  word.  It  was  my  privilege  to  welcome  you  to 
this  Seminary  as  a student ; again  it  was  my  privilege  to  welcome 
you  as  a professor,  and  now  it  is  my  privilege  to  Avelcome  you 
as  our  President.  May  God  bless  you. 

President  Tipple,  with  confidence  in  your  leadership,  with 
all  good  wishes  and  prayers  for  the  great  success  of  your  admin- 
istration, on  behalf  of  the  Faculty  of  Drew  Theological  Semi- 
nary, I salute  you,  I welcome  you. 

And  now.  Bishop  Wilson,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  Drew  Theological  Seminary,  I have  the  additional  pleasant 
duty  of  presenting  to  you  the  Rev.  Ezra  Squier  Tipple,  Doctor 
of  Philosophy,  Doctor  of  Divinity,  to  be  inaugurated  President  of 
Drew  Theological  Seminary. 


6 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


BY  PRESIDENT  TIPPLE 

Mb.  Chairman^  President-Emeritus  Buttz^  and  Friends: 

Ou  a high  day  like  this,  the  chief  festival  of  the  Seminary 
calendar,  dedicated  to  the  founders  of  this  school,  one’s  thoughts 
turn  instinctively  and  gratefully  to  the  men  and  women  who 
dreamed  and  prayed,  who  gave  and  toiled,  and  out  of  whose  faith 
and  zeal  and  sacrifice  has  come  this  honorable  institution  of 
theological  education.  And  as  we  think  of  the  noble  company  of 
benefactors  of  Drew  Theological  Seminary,  and  see  again  the 
splendor  of  their  purpose,  the  majesty  of  their  faith,  and  their 
fidelity  to  worthy  ideals,  just  as  intuitively  do  we  pray  that  we 
of  a newer  day  may  have  a like  measure  of  courage  and  energy 
and  steadfastness. 

The  history  of  this  Seminary  is  much  the  same  as  that  of 
other  institutions  of  learning.  There  may  be  nothing  more  of 
romance  in  its  founding,  or  of  sacrifice  in  its  building,  or  of  de- 
votedness in  its  development,  than  in  many  another  school  repre- 
sented here  to-day,  but  somehow  to  us  who  know  more  intimately 
the  history,  traditions,  and  spirit  of  the  place,  the  story  of  its 
beginnings  has  a peculiar  charm  and  the  names  of  those  who 
dared  the  enterprise  and  conquered  the  difficulties  are  enshrined 
as  no  others  in  our  hearts,  and  we  may  be  pardoned,  therefore, 
if  on  such  an  occasion  as  this  we  linger  for  a moment  beside  the 
graves  of  our  sainted  dead,  and,  like  old  soldiers,  tell  of  their 
deeds  of  prowess  and  boast  of  their  virtues.  There  are  great 
names  and  great  deeds  in  our  Book  of  Annals.  The  roll  of  the 
founders  of  this  Seminary  and  the  record  of  their  achievements 
read  like  another  eleventh  chapter  of  Hebrews : Janes,  sagacious, 
with  rare  knowledge  of  men,  saintly  in  look  and  life,  a master  of 
assemblies;  McClintock,  cultured,  versatile,  the  foremost  scholar 


THE  FLAKING  OF  THE  MODEEN  MINISTEK 

of  American  Methodism,  learned  but  without  arrogance,  catholic, 
persuasively  eloquent;  Simpson,  surpassing  preacher,  prophet  of 
democracy,  patriot;  Judge  Fancher,  courtly,  keen,  erudite;  Dur- 
bin, professor,  editor,  college  president,  missionary  secretary, 
matchless  orator;  Morris  D’C.  Crawford,  that  ecclesiastical 
statesman;  and  Charles  C.  North,  Christian  gentleman  and  lover 
of  mankind;  George  E.  Crooks,  scholarly,  with  a passion  for 
knowledge,  intense,  rugged,  a kind  of  ecclesiastical  Thomas  Car- 
lyle; Daniel  Drew,  self-taught  and  self-made,  shrewd,  simple- 
hearted,  and  with  divinely  generous  impulses;  and  many  other 
devoted,  knightly  men  w’ho  in  that  formative  period  through  faith 
subdued  kingdoms  and  worked  miracles.  To  these  men  we  are 
debtors,  and  to  others  also  who  then  or  during  the  nearly  half 
centurj'  since  have  put  into  this  place  brain  and  heart  and  con- 
fidence and  coin  of  the  realm.  We  are  debtors  to  Foster,  the 
embodiment  of  genius,  the  lordly  preacher,  defender  of  the  faith ; 
to  Nadal,  winsome,  enthusiastic  as  a teacher,  and  almost  without 
a peer  as  a writer;  to  Hurst,  scholarly,  energetic,  contemplative, 
self-contained,  a lover  of  books,  savior  of  the  school  in  the  dark 
days  of  its  adversity;  to  Kidder,  precise,  painstaking,  brotherly, 
a hater  of  shams ; to  Strong,  the  white-bearded  patriarch,  a veri- 
table encyclopedia  of  knowledge;  to  Miley,  theologian,  unfailing 
friend;  to  Upham,  genial,  abounding  in  good  sense,  with  an  un- 
surpassed knowledge  of  Methodist  traditions  and  history;  to 
George  T.  Cobb,  Andrew  V.  Stout,  Ezra  B.  Tuttle,  Mark  Hoyt, 
George  J.  Ferry,  Charles  Scott,  Clinton  B.  Fisk,  John  B.  Cornell, 
Archer  Brown,  Stephen  Greene,  William  Hoyt,  Anderson  Fowler, 
James  W.  Pearsall,  Bishop  John  P.  Newman,  Townsend  Wandell, 
John  S.  McLean,  John  S.  Huyler,  and  Samuel  W.  Bowne,  great 
men  and  good  men,  all  princely  benefactors;  and  to  that  other 
and  larger  company  of  men  and  women  who  in  less  notable,  hut 
not  less  infiuential  wa^’s  have  wrought  the  fabric  of  this  institu- 
tion and  have  contributed  to  its  life.  To-day  we  humbly  ac- 
knowledge our  imperishable  obligation  to  all  these,  and  to  one 
other,  scholar,  exegete,  preacher,  writer,  administrator,  whose 

8 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


beneficent  relations  with  this  Seminary  began  with  the  opening 
of  its  doors,  and  whose  godly  life  has  radiated  blessings  upon 
every  student  who  has  crossed  its  threshold;  forty-five  years  a 
teacher  here,  thirty-two  years  the  universally  revered  Presi- 
dent of  this  Seminary,  now  and  always  to  all  who  have  ever  been 
in  this  school  friend,  counselor,  father — Henry  Anson  Buttz. 
As  the  years  were  multiplying  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  men,  looking 
at  her  white  hair,  whispered,  ‘‘When  that  snow  melteth,  there 
will  be  a flood.”  It  is  likewise  true  that  when  the  snoAvs  which 
crown  the  brow  of  this  kingly  man  melt,  there  Avill  be  rivers  of 
tears  in  every  land,  and  lamentations  in  every  place  Avhere  his 
sons  in  the  gospel  are  working  under  the  stimulus  of  his  mighty 
spirit  to  bring  in  the  kingdom  of  God  and  striving  with  stead- 
fastness to  reach  the  goal  he  set  before  them.  May  he  be  spared 
yet  many  years  to  declare  here  the  counsels  of  Jehovah  and  to  ex- 
pound the  Word  of  our  God! 

The  Christian  ministry  is  a divine  institution.  Both  in 
origin  and  constitution  it  is  divine.  When  George  Whitefield 
began  to  feel  the  pull  of  divine  forces  toward  the  ministry,  and 
was  in  an  agony  of  concern  whether  he  must  heed  the  call,  he 
turned  to  the  New  Testament  to  ascertain  what  manner  of  man 
he  would  have  to  be  in  case  he  should  find  himself,  against  his 
will  even,  compelled  to  preach.  There  are  other  books  which 
essay  to  set  forth  the  characteristics  of  a minister  of  God. 
Chaucer  has  drawn  an  exquisitely  beautiful  picture  of  the  parish 
priest  who 

This  noble  ensample  to  his  sheep  he  gaA'e, 

That  first  he  wrought,  and  afterward  he  taught.' 

George  Herbert,  with  fine  feeling,  has  etched  the  “Country  Par- 
son,” and  Richard  Baxter,  in  his  “Reformed  Pastor,”  has  given 
the  world  an  unapproached  delineation  of  a faithful  shepherd  of 
souls.  But  the  perfect  description  of  the  ideal  minister  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  I do  not  knoAv  in  litera- 
ture a nobler  conception  of  the  kind  of  a minister  this  age  and 

9 


THE  MAKING  OP  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


every  age  needs:  “Paul,  a servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  called  to  be  an 
apostle,  separated  unto  the  gospel  of  Christ.”  But  great  as  was 
I*aul,.he  was  second  to  a Greater, — Teacher,  Preacher,  Wonder- 
Worker,  Shepherd,  Comforter,  Kingdom-Builder,  who  for  the  car- 
rying on  of  the  work  which  he  had  begun,  for  the  establishment  of 
his  kingdom  on  the  earth,  chose  men  to  act  for  him  and  by  his 
power.  The  apostles  were  summoned  by  Jesus  Christ,  commis- 
sioned by  him,  inspirited  by  him,  and  anointed  by  him  for  a di- 
vine task.  They  were  his  ministers,  the  heralds  of  a new  order, 
the  prophets  of  a new  society,  by  his  choice  and  determination. 
Pentecost  was  God’s  seal  ui)on  this  divinely  instituted  ministry 
of  the  apostolic  church.  Henceforth,  “No  man  can  say  that 
Jesus  is  the  Lord,  but  in  the  Holy  Ghost.”  The  centuries  have 
come  and  gone  since  that  day,  but  the  kingdom  remains — the 
one  kingdom  alone  which  can  claim  to  have  unbroken,  historic, 
and  vital  continuity.  And  the  ministry  which  was  divinely  insti- 
tuted by  our  Lord  remains.  There  may  be  fashions  in  ministers, 
as  in  clothes.  Cardinal  Borromeo,  a beautiful  and  blessed 
laborer  among  the  poor,  once  said:  “A  parish  priest  should  be 
like  a French  milliner,  ahvays  bringing  out  new  inodes  in  order 
to  keep  up  the  interest  and  stimulate  a languishing  taste.”  But 
the  office  is  not  new.  The  Christian  ministry  is  not  only  a divine 
institution,  but  it  must  also  be  regarded  as  a permanent  insti- 
tution. 

In  the  educational  training  of  men  for  this  divinely  insti- 
tuted ministry,  the  theological  seminary,  which  is  a vocational 
school,  has  its  place,  just  as  other  professional  schools,  such  as 
law  or  medical  schools,  which  have  been  established  to  Hain  men 
to  be  lawyers  or  doctors.  The  question,  then,  is  not.  Has  the 
theological  school  a legitimate  place  in  the  making  of  the  min- 
ister? but.  What  kind  of  a place?  not.  Is  it  essential?  but.  Does 
it  serve  its  vocational  purpose?  It  may  have  done  so  a genera- 
tion ago,  but  is  it  Avisely,  completely  fulfilling  its  growingly 
important  mission  of  to-day?  Is  it  educationally  producing  min- 
isters properly  trained  for  the  imperious  demands  of  this  modern 

10 


THE  MAKING  OP  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 

age?  Men  say  that  it  is  not.  Perhaps  it  is  just  at  this  point  that 
the  sharpest  criticism  is  urged  against  theological  seminaries, 
and  there  is  criticism  a plenty.  Heckling  schools  of  theology  is 
not  one  of  the  lost  arts.  Criticism  of  other  schools,  such  as  our 
public  schools  and  colleges,  has  been  abundant  and  sharp  during 
recent  years;  but  the  theological  schools  have  been  even  more 
vigorously  assailed,  and  there  are  many  who  are  beginning  to 
feel  “that  the  chorus  of  criticism  on  the  historic  theological  cur- 
riculum is  sufficiently  loud  to  make  pertinent  the  question 
whether,  as  a universal  curriculum  for  all  ministerial  training, 
it  meets  the  real  needs  of  the  present,  or  equips  men  adequately 
for  contact  with  the  problems  by  which  they  are  sure  to  be  con- 
fronted when  they  pass  from  the  walls  of  the  seminary  to  the 
great  needy  world  outside,”  and  also  to  inquire  what  kind  of 
training  is  needed  for  the  making  of  the  modern  minister.  In 
attempting  to  answer  this  question,  I do  not  need  to  remind  you 
that  I speak  as  a denominationalist,  or  to  apologize  for  so  doing. 
Most  theological  schools  are  denominational  schools,  and  ought 
to  be.  Drew  Theological  Seminary  is  a school  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  It  was  established  by  the  church,  being  one 
of  the  fruits  of  the  Centenary  of  American  Methodism  in  1866. 
Its  founders  were  Methodists.  Its  trustees  are  named  by  the 
General  Conference  of  the  Church.  Its  teachers  are  nominated 
by  the  Board  of  Bishops.  In  a peculiar  sense,  therefore,  it  be- 
longs to  the  denomination.  It  was  created,  too,  for  a denomina- 
tional purpose,  namely,  to  train  men  for  the  ministry  of  the 
Church  founded  by  John  Wesley,  and  I shall  have  this  in  mind 
throughout  my  consideration  of  this  matter  of  the  preparation  of 
the  modern  minister,  for  the  nature  of  the  training  must  be  de- 
termined by  the  nature  of  the  task.  The  nature  of  the  work  of 
the  physician  determines  the  character  of  the  training  he  receives 
in  preparation  for  his  vocation.  What  is  the  work  of  the  theo- 
logical school?  It  is  not  to  make  scholars,  in  the  technical  sense 
of  the  term.  The  seminary  is  a place  for  the  cultivation  of 
scholarly  ideals  and  tastes,  for  the  confirming  of  scholarly  habits 

11 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODEEN  MINISTEE 


of  thought  and  life,  and  for  the  awakening  now  and  then  of  such 
scholarly  ambitions  in  a man  that  he  will  go  through  fire  and 
fiood  to  be  a scholar;  bnt  spirituality,  for  instance,  demands  a 
stronger  emphasis  in  the  modern  seminary  than  scholarship. 

The  life  of  the  modern  college  hardly  tends  to  moral  self- 
denials.  The  customs  of  college  life  are  exacting.  The  appeal 
of  college  spirit,  the  influence  of  the  college  atmosphere,  is  well- 
nigh  irresistible.  And  when  a man  enters  the  Seminary,  he 
brings  with  him  the  college  attitude,  the  college  practices,  and, 
too  often,  the  college  non-observance  of  the  ‘‘means  of  grace,”  and 
sometimes,  alas,  even  antagonisms  to  spiritual  influences  and  an 
aversion  to  a life  hid  with  God  in  Christ.  Now,  the  call  to  the 
ministry  is  a call  to  spiritual  enterprises,  to  see  bushes  which 
burn  and  are  not  consumed,  to  walk  in  the  highways  of  life,  amid 
boisterons  noises,  and  yet  be  able  to  discern  above  “the  tumult 
and  the  shouting”  the  still,  small  voice;  to  stand  upon  some 
Syrian  monntain,  and,  looking  up,  behold  a thousand  thousand 
wheeling  chariots  and  horsemen  of  Jehovah.  Such  experiences 
are  of  far  vaster  moment  to  a minister  of  God  than  facts  which 
have  been  written  down  in  books.  To  know  the  history  of  doc- 
trines, or  the  literary  aspects  of  the  Bible,  or  the  Christian  solu- 
tion of  social  problems,  or  the  results  of  the  last  questionnaire  in 
the  realm  of  scientific  inquiry,  invaluable  as  all  these  are,  is  not 
to  be  ranked  for  one  moment  with  the  deeper  knowledge  of  the 
things  of  the  Spirit ; and  the  seminary  which  does  not  stress  spirit- 
ual power  above  intellectual  powder  as  a regenerative  force  in 
the  world  does  not  know  values. 

In  a letter  to  the  students  at  Harvard  and  Yale  who  had 
come  under  his  influence  during  one  of  his  evangelistic  tours, 
George  Whitefield  wrote:  “Henceforward,  therefore,  I hope  you 
will  enter  into  yonr  studies  not  to  get  a parish,  nor  to  be  polite 
preachers,  but  to  be  great  saints.”  However  much  people  value 
scholarship,  they  value  saintliness  more.  While  they  may  be 
glad  to  have  the  latest  information  concerning  the  Bible,  they  are 
far  more  moved  by  a life  built  according  to  the  Bible  plan. 

12 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


Theories  of  inspiration  do  not  influence  them  a tithe  as  much  as 
a Christ-inspired  life.  Speculations  as  to  the  new  birth,  the  na- 
ture of  conversion,  are  far  afield  when  one  is  in  the  presence  of 
a converted  man,  Arthur  Christopher  Benson,  in  a biographical 
study  of  Bishop  Wilkinson,  after  saying  that  it  was  always  told 
of  Wilkinson  that  he  was  converted  by  his  own  first  sermon,  says : 
“Conversion  was  a word  which  carried  great  weight  in  Cornwall. 
I don’t  know  what  test  exactly  was  applied,  but  the  Celtic  tem- 
perament was  able  to  decide  from  the  look,  the  utterance,  the 
gestures  of  a preacher,  whether  the  change  had  taken  place. 
It  made  a great  difference  to  the  effectiveness  of  my  father’s 
ministrations  when  it  was  realized  and  freely  stated  that  he  was 
a converted  man.” 

For  more  than  a century  and  a half  conversion  has  been  a 
word  of  large  import  to  Methodism.  It  must  not  be  lost  from  our 
vocabulary  if  our  preachers  are  to  be  persuasive  preachers. 
There  may  be  differences  of  opinion  as  to  its  significance, 
especially  as  to  the  spiritual  experience  which  it  designates,  but 
to  one  who  has  passed  from  death  unto  life  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion as  to  the  great  fact,  A minister  of  God  must  be  a man  of 
God,  and  the  men  who  come  here  must  learn  beyond  all  else  the 
secrets  of  the  Almighty;  and  while  this  Seminary  stands  for  a 
learned  ministry,  it  will  not  have  been  Avorth  while  for  a man  to 
come  here  provided  he  takes  with  him  when  he  leaves  only  a zeal 
for  scholarship,  for  when  the  Christian  religion  ceases  to  be  an 
enthusiasm,  it  ceases  to  be  a reality.  And  there  must  ever  be 
room  in  the  ministry  of  our  Church  at  least,  and  room  here, 
for  the  man  who,  handicapped  in  ways  he  cannot  overcome,  finds  it 
impossible  to  make  as  complete  preparation  before  coming  here 
as  we  might  desire,  or  who,  converted  late  in  life,  feels  that  he 
cannot  afford  the  time  for  long  years  of  training.  Some  of  God’s 
most  effective  servants  have  not  had  even  a seminary  training; 
siome  did  not  have  any  training  whatever.  There  haA^e  been 
mighty  preachers  who  Avere  not  trained  in  schools.  They  might 
have  been  more  effective  than  they  were,  they  would  have  been, 

13 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


had  they  been  so  trained ; but  there  will  always  he  a hearing  for 
the  Spurgeons,  and  the  Beechers,  and  the  Simpsons,  educated 
men,  all  of  them,  though  not  taught  in  schools.  The  chief  busi- 
ness of  the  modern  theological  seminary  is  not  to  produce  schol- 
ars, though  we  pray  God  that  for  the  good  of  his  church  now  and 
again  a great  scholar  may  be  born  here. 

Nor  is  it  the  primary  purpose  of  the  theological  school  to 
train  men  for  other  forms  of  Christian  work.  It  is  a function 
of  the  seminary  to  inspire  and  educate  some  men  to  be  teachers, 
and  some  other  men  for  special  forms  of  religious  activity,  and 
this  more  and  more  as  young  men  are  looking  upon  such  forms  of 
service  as  apparently  worthier  of  their  ability.  During  the  past 
decade  some  of  the  strong  young  men  of  our  colleges  have  been 
drawn  to  work  among  young  men,  to  settlement  work,  and  vari- 
ous other  organized  forms  of  philanthropy  and  of  social  activity, 
and  there  is  much  in  all  such  appeals.  But  while  I have  the  full- 
est sympathy  with  every  form  of  religious  work,  I still  believe 
that  “the  ministry  offers  the  opportunity  of  the  richest,  most 
enduring,  most  fruitful  influence,”  that  “it  presents  more  chances 
for  life  than  any  other  profession.”  Yet  there  are  men  who  will 
feel  called  of  God  to  other  forms  of  service,  and  who  will  con- 
tribute their  full  share,  as  large  a share  as  if  in  the  ministry,  to 
the  progress  of  God’s  kingdom  in  the  world.  And  it  is,  and  will 
be,  one  of  the  provinces  of  the  theological  seminary  to  teach  such 
men  for  their  God-given  tasks.  But  this  is  not  the  first  business 
of  the  theological  seminary. 

Nor  is  it  the  chief  objective  of  the  theological  seminary  to 
train  leaders.  I do  not  forget  that  leadership  is  the  shibboleth 
of  this  modern  age.  It  is  the  cry  heard  on  every  hand,  and  par- 
ticularly from  the  advocates  of  a socialized  Christianity.  The 
Church  does  need  leaders.  This  is  a contention  beyond  dispute. 
The  minister  of  to-day  has  to  be  conspicuously  a leader,  especially 
in  country  parishes.  As  Robert  South  once  said,  “A  blind  man 
sitting  in  the  chimney  corner  is  pardonable  enough,  but  sitting 
at  the  helm  is  intolerable.”  But  it  would  be  an  unfortunate 

14 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


day  for  the  Church  if  our  preachers  should  get  the  notion  that 
they  are  to  be  chiefly  business  managers  of  ecclesiastical  garages, 
where  machines  come  for  repairs  or  to  replenish  the  supply  of 
gasoline,  or  directors  of  clubs  and  social  enterprises,  or  heads  of 
department  stores.  There  must  be  training  for  leadership,  more 
than  ever  training  for  Christian  leadership  in  church  and  com- 
munity life,  but  the  chief  objective  of  the  seminary  is  something 
else. 

The  supreme  business  of  the  theological  school  must  be  to 
discipline  men  to  preach;  to  take  the  average  man  and  prepare 
him  to  be  an  etfective  preacher.  The  pulpit  may  be  no  longer  the 
only  fulcrum  of  the  Church’s  power,  hut  it  is  still  the  greatest 
fulcrum  of  the  Church’s  power.  There  may  be  other  organiza- 
tions and  societies,  and  the  administration  of  charities  and 
the  like,  which  are  leverages  that  are  lifting  society,  but 
the  greatest  lever  of  to-day,  in  spite  of  all  its  weak- 
nesses and  faults,  is  the  pulpit.  This  Seminary  was  established 
to  train  men  for  a ministry  of  preaching,  and  especially  for  a 
ministry  of  extemporaneous  preaching.  Of  what  large  im- 
portance this  was  deemed,  this  article  of  its  Constitution  will 
indicate: 

As  the  object  of  this  Seminary  is  to  train  men  for  the 
‘‘preaching  of  the  Gospel,”  it  is  required  of  all  professors  and 
tutors,  both  by  their  instructions  and  their  personal  example,  to 
aid  the  students  to  form  habits  of  ready  and  effective  expression 
extempore  to  the  exclusion  of  the  use  of  Avritten  discourses. 

And  to-day,  as  neA^er  before,  the  Church  needs  a ministry  skilled 
in  the  most  difficult  of  all  arts,  the  effective  and  popular  pre- 
sentation of  the  gospel  without  notes  and  with  a thrill  of  per- 
sonal conviction  and  suffused  with  what  Guizot  called  “the  di- 
vine passion  for  souls.” 

But  the  fact  that  this  Seminary  Avas  founded  to  prepare  men 
to  preach  the  gospel  is  not  of  itself  a sufficient  reason  for  laying 
the  stress  to-day  upon  training  for  preaching.  There  are  numer- 
ous other  reasons. 


15 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


1.  Preaching  is  a distinct  and  large  function  of  the  Protes- 
tant Church,  and  especially  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
In  Catholic  countries  one  may  see  churches  and  cathedrals  with 
two  or  three  organs  and  numerous  altars,  and  without  a pulpit. 
But  there  can  be  no  Protestant  Church  without  a pulpit.  Preach- 
ing best  expresses  the  genius  of  Protestantism.  It  was  Martin 
Luther  who  held  that  there  could  he  no  true  worship  where  there 
Avas  no  true  preaching.  And  the  surpassing  testimony  to  the  ef- 
fectiveness of  the  Protestant  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century 
w'as  that  wherever  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation  spread,  pul- 
pits were  set  up,  and  wherever  pulpits  were  set  up,  the  cause 
advanced  by  leaps  and  bounds. 

Moreover,  the  ministry  which  Christ  instituted  was  largely 
a ministry  of  preaching.  Jesus  was  a preacher. 

Across  the  sea,  along  the  shore. 

In  numbers  more  and  ever  more, 

From  lonely  hut  and  busy  town. 

The  valley  through,  the  mountain  doAvn, 

What  was  it  ye  went  out  to  see. 

Ye  silly  folk  of  Galilee? 

The  reed  that  in  the  wind  doth  shake? 

The  weed  that  washes  in  the  lake? 

The  reed  that  waves?  the  weeds  that  float? — 

A young  man  preaching  in  a boat. 

The  apostles  were  preachers.  That  was  their  business,  preaching. 
The  conquests  of  the  Christian  Church  have  been  largely  through 
preaching.  It  is  the  witness  of  history  that  when  the  pulpit  de- 
clines, Christian  living  is  less  vital;  that  when  the  pulpit  ceases 
its  prophetic  utterances  and  divine  Avarnings,  and  its  ‘‘thus  saith 
the  Lord,”  gives  way  to  the  droning  of  platitudes;  that  when  its 
voice  is  no  longer  a summons  to  battle  or  a divine  comfort,  then 
men  grow  indifferent  and  their  consciences  become  seared.  All  the 
great  revivals  of  the  centuries  have  been  brought  about  through 
preaching.  In  the  thirteenth  century,  when  the  Church  was  in 
extremis,  men  were  saying,  as  some  men  are  saying  now,  that 

16 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODEKN  MINISTER 


the  day  of  preaching  had  passed,  and  while  the  words  were  still 
hot  on  their  lips,  there  suddenly  appeared  on  the  smiling  Umbrian 
plain  a man  of  diminutive  stature,  of  delicate  health,  like  Robert 
Hall,  yet  practicing  the  severest  austerities,  with  an  indomitable 
will,  yet  tender  and  sympathetic,  who  by  the  miracle  of  preach- 
ing, almost  before  men  realized  it,  reestablished  the  old  faith  in 
all  its  medieval  power.  Saint  Francis,  this  wonder-worker, 
was  a preacher.  So  also  was  Savonarola,  who  in  the  fifteenth 
century  brought  the  Florentines,  far  gone  in  wickedness,  to  their 
knees  in  penitence.  The  Evangelical  Revival  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  in  which  Methodism  had  its  birth  and  which  remade 
England  and  helped  to  determine  the  ethical,  moral,  and  religious 
standards  of  the  new-world  republic,  was  brought  about  by 
preaching.  John  Wesley  had,  it  is  true,  a genius  for  organiza- 
tion. He  was  hospitable  to  every  agency  for  doing  good.  He 
established  schools  and  started  dispensaries,  and  in  other  ways 
ministered  to  the  poor  and  needy.  But  neither  his  skill  as  an 
administrator  nor  his  interest  in  the  social  questions  of  the  day 
will  account  for  his  success.  His  chief  instrument  in  the  evan- 
gelizing of  England  and  America  was  preaching. 

2.  There  is  no  sufficient  substitute  as  yet  proposed  for  the 
pulpit.  True,  there  are  said  to  be  serious  and  successful  rivals 
of  the  pulpit.  We  hear  of  the  ‘^artist  who  preaches,”  and  of 
the  poet  with  a message,  and  of  the  militant  voice  of  the  press, 
as  if  these  were  the  chosen  prophets  of  this  generation,  and  they 
are,  indeed,  potent  voices,  but  they  are  not  substitutes  for  the 
Christian  preacher.  Preaching  is  divine  business.  It  is  a work 
of  God.  The  preacher  is  a voice  of  God.  The  sermon  is  a word 
of  God.  The  man  in  the  pulpit  is  an  ambassador  of  God,  speak- 
ing in  Christ’s  stead.  He  is  a herald  of  news  from  God,  the 
bearer  of  a message  from  the  Lord  of  hosts.  The  word  of  the 
preacher  is  the  final  word  in  the  realm  in  which  he  speaks. 
Christianity  has  the  last  word  in  matters  of  conduct.  For  the 
preacher  who  receives  his  message  from  God  and  delivers  it  un- 
corrupted  there  is  no  supreme  court.  If  the  influence  of  the  pul- 

17 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


pit  is  waning,  as  some  seem  to  think  it  is,  then  the  pulpit  must 
reestablish  itself  in  the  only  way  by  which  it  can  regain  its 
power,  namely,  by  preaching.  Scholarship  alone  will  not  do  it. 
There  are  more  scholars  ont  of  the  pulpit  than  in  it.  Simple 
devotion  to  lofty  ideals  will  not  accomplish  it.  Even  zealous 
loyalty  to  a holy  cause  will  not  restore  the  power  of  the  pulpit. 
Nor  is  the  remedy  for  a decadent  i^nlpit  to  be  found  in  ritualism, 
but  in  preaching,  more  preaching  and  better  preaching.  The 
altar  has  qnite  a different  meaning  in  Christian  history  from  the 
pnlpit,  and  can  never  be  a substitute  for  it.  Nor  can  anything 
else.  Preaching,  like  the  ministry,  is  a permanent  institntion. 

3.  The  most  effective  leadership  in  the  Chnrch  is  leadership 
throngh  preaching.  There  was  a time  when  Beecher  was  the 
greatest  opinion-maker  in  Brooklyn  and  when  Spurgeon  was  the 
eqnal  of  any  two  members  in  Parliament.  It  was  from  the  pnl- 
pit that  they  wielded  their  power  and  by  their  preaching  that 
they  gained  their  inflnence.  Let  me  give  a further  illustration 
of  what  I mean  by  leadership  through  preaching.  We  are  draw- 
ing near  a Presidential  election.  These  are  serious  days,  but 
they  do  not  approach  in  importance  the  momentous  days  before 
the  election  of  18G4,  for  those  were  days  of  gravest  national  peril. 
It  looked  as  if  the  election  would  result  in  the  defeat  of  one  of  the 
divinest  men  ever  set  to  the  task  of  saving  a nation,  and  in  this 
crisis  it  was  decided  to  hold  jnst  previous  to  the  fateful  day  a 
meeting  in  the  Academy  of  Mnsic  in  New  York,  to  be  addressed 
by  one  whose  words  it  was  thought  would  carry  an  irresistible 
appeal.  Mr.  Mark  Hoyt,  one  of  the  best  friends  this  Seminan^ 
ever  had,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  preparation  for  the  meeting, 
wrote  to  the  desired  speaker  as  follows : “All  your  friends  agree 
that  you  should  speak  before  the  election.  Speaking  at  that  time, 
with  the  full  report  promised  in  the  Tribune,  Times,  Herald,  and 
Evening  Post,  is  equivalent  to  speaking  to  the  nation.”  And  who 
was  this  man,  summoned  to  the  solemn  and  Aveighty  task  of  ad- 
dressing the  nation  at  the  time  of  the  nation’s  greatest  peril? 
It  was  a preacher  by  the  name  of  Matthew  Simpson.  And  what 

18 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


voice  in  all  the  land  could  be  more  potent  when  the  destiny  of 
the  nation  was  in  the  balance?  From  one  end  of  the  continent  to 
the  other  Matthew  Simpson  was  known.  In  every  section  of  this 
wide  land  he  had  lifted  up  his  honest  voice.  He  had  preached 
hy  the  Pacific  Sea,  and  men  had  said  it  was  the  voice  of  God ; he 
had  preached  on  the  shores  of  LaJ^e  Michigan,  and  had  carried 
men  away  from  themselves;  he  had  preached  in  New  England, 
and  Father  Taylor,  the  sailor-preacher,  had  said,  “He  has  swal- 
lowed me  up”;  he  had  preached  in  Indiana,  and  his  voice  had 
been  with  unparalleled  power.  Everywhere  he  was  honored; 
everywhere  he  was  beloved.  In  the  mountain  cabin  in  Kentucky, 
in  miners’  shacks  among  the  Rockies,  in  the  farm  houses  on  the 
prairies,  in  the  homes  of  toilers  in  every  State,  in  the  palaces  of 
the  rich  in  the  cities  of  the  East — everywhere  he  was  a welcome 
guest.  Lincoln  knew  him,  loved  him,  had  confidence  in  his  judg- 
ment, and  leaned  upon  him  as  upon  a strong  arm.  Stanton  sent 
for  him  again  and  again,  and  it  is  said  that  their  long  conferences 
Avere  ended  oftentimes,  at  Stanton’s  request,  with  earnest  prayer. 
It  was  Simpson  who  suggested  that  there  should  he  some  recogni- 
tion of  God  in  the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  And  who  better 
than  this  man  could  cry  aloud  in  such  a crisis  and  be  listened  to 
by  such  a \mst  multitude  of  men  about  to  pass  judgment  upon 
Lincoln’s  administration?  No  man  can  say  what  part  his  speech 
in  the  Academy  of  jMusic  played  in  the  final  result  of  the  election, 
hut  as  on  the  wings  of  the  wind  his  throbbing,  burning  words 
were  carried  to  hamlet  and  toAATi  the  country  oA-er,  and  there  was 
only  one  thing  that  men  who  believed  in  Matthew  Simpson  could 
do  when  they  heard  or  read  those  stirring  words  in  which  pulsated 
his  sublime  faith  in  God  and  in  them,  and  that  one  thing  they 
did.  They  reelected  Lincoln,  and  the  end  of  rebellion  and  dis- 
union drew  near.  Wherein  was  the  power  of  this  high  priest  of 
patriotism?  Whence  his  genius  for  leadership?  It  was  abso- 
lutely and  solely  leadership  through  preaching.  And  preaching 
will  ever  he  an  essential  element  in  ministerial  leadership. 

4.  The  Church  to-day  needs  preachers  more  than  anything 

19 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 

else.  One  of  the  charges  against  our  theological  seminaries,  made 
with  painful  iteration,  is  that  they  are  making  biblical  scholars, 
and  philosophers,  and  ecclesiastical  organizers,  and  sociological 
diagnosticians,  but  that  only  now  and  then  do  they  deliver  to  the 
Churches  preachers,  and  that  they  are  not  therefore  supplying 
the  Church’s  greatest  need.  The  Church  of  to-day  must  have 
men  of  varied  gifts.  The  modern  minister  must  be  pastor, 
teacher,  administrator,  social  engineer,  leader,  let  this  not  be 
forgotten,  but  the  Church’s  supremest  need  is  for  effective  preach- 
ers. And  because  of  this  need  Churches  are  asking  for  preachers. 
When  committees  of  vacant  Churches  go  on  a search  for  a min- 
ister, they  invariably  try  to  get  on  the  trail  of  a man  who  can 
preach.  ‘‘No  man  who  knows  hoAV  to  preach  with  grace  and 
power  need  stand  idle  in  the  market  place  a single  hour.”  “It 
is  surprising,”  said  a prominent  churchman  recently,  “how 
stoutly  and  stubbornly  the  Churches  insist  upon  preachers  know- 
ing how  to  preach.  They  will  forgive  almost  anything  else,  but 
they  will  not  forgive  inability  to  preach.  They  have  a wholesome 
reverence  for  learning,  but  they  would  rather  have  a man  with 
no  diploma  who  can  preach  than  a man  with  two  diplomas  who 
cannot  preach.  They  believe  in  experience  and  acknowledge  its 
value,  but  they  would  rather  have  a man  with  no  experience  who 
can  preach  than  a man  with  years  of  experience  Avho  has  lost  the 
gift  of  presenting  the  truth  in  ways  which  lift  and  strengthen. 
In  all  this  the  Churches  may  be  stiff-necked  and  unreasonable, 
but  it  is  a frame  of  mind  which  is  not  likely  to  be  changed. 
And  if  I were  the  president  of  a theological  seminary,  I should 
listen  to  what  the  Spirit  is  saying  through  the  Churches,  and 
should  set  my  house  in  order  for  the  training  of  preachers.”  If 
the  Churches  need  preachers  and  want  preachers,  they  ought  to 
have  what  they  want,  for  have  not  the  Churches  certain  inalien- 
able rights?  May  they  not  say  to  a man,  “You  hold  that  you  are 
called  to  preach;  then  we  insist  that  you  learn  how  to  preach.” 
May  they  not  say  to  a theological  school,  “You  were  established 
to  train  men  for  the  work  we  want  them  to  do.  We  want  preach- 

20 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 

ers,  and  we  ask,  therefore,  that  you  turn  out  preachers”?  And 
the  Church  may  insist,  too,  that  the  seminary  train  men  to  preach 
interestingly.  I think  I was  annoyed  this  summer  when,  after  a 
service,  one  of  my  hearers  thanked  me  for  having  “entertained” 
her.  Perhaps  she  used  the  wrong  word.  But  why  should  I have 
been  offended?  The  sermon  had  at  least  interested  her.  Joseph 
Jefferson  once  said  to  an  eager  novice:  “My  child,  you  are  like 
all  young  actresses  and  actors — you  play  to  the  orchestra. 
Sometimes  you  include  the  first  balcony.  But  there  is  something 
3"Ou  must  never  forget — there  is  a second  balcony.”  It  is  not 
“learned”  sermons,  so  called,  that  people  are  eager  to  hear.  They 
do  not  go  to  church  as  to  a country  fair,  to  see  prize  “exhibits.” 
The  average  congregation  cares  not  a w^hit  for  Greek  or  Sanskrit, 
or  Biblical  criticism.  But  they  do  relish  hearing  the  Word 
preached  in  simple,  direct,  picturesque  Anglo-Saxon.  More 
than  likely  many  of  our  hearers  are  in  the  second  gallery.  And 
it  is  to  them  that  we  must  preach.  We  must  give  them  a glimpse 
of  some  Palestinian  landscape,  show  them  the  man  of  Galilee, 
and  the  uplifted  cross  on  Calvary’s  hill,  and  make  it  all  so  real 
that  they  will  leave  God’s  house  with  the  spell  of  the  hour  upon 
them  and  the  fires  of  God  in  their  souls  rekindled.  The  sort  of 
sermon  people  want  to  hear  is  not  the  kind  that  is  artistically 
perfect,  but  the  kind  they  feel,  and  the  kind  that  touches  the 
hearts  of  the  men  and  women  in  the  gallery  wdll  warm  the  hearts 
of  the  men  and  w^omen  w^ho  occupy  the  most  expensive  seats  in  the 
synagogue.  Why  this  modern  horror  of  emotionalism?  The 
jesting  references  to  the  “Amen  corner”  of  another  and  earlier 
generation  are  poor  liumor  and  poorer  sense.  “With  multitudes 
to-day  the  emotional  life  is  not  getting  fair  play;  w'e  are  guilty 
of  a Avanton  suppression  of  its  natural  and  proper  manifesta- 
tions ; w^e  are  deliberately  starving  one  w'hole  side  of  our  natures ; 
and  the  cool-blooded  pedantry  w’hich  affects  to  look  down  upon  all 
religious  excitement  as  vulgar  rant  is  being  suffered  to  inflict  the 
gravest  injury  upon  the  whole  life  and  work  of  the  Church,  and 
not  least  upon  the  life  and  w^ork  of  the  preacher.”  Christianity 

21 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


at  its  best  is  not  logic,  but  passion,  and  tbe  preaching  which  is 
most  effective  is  that  which  leaps  from  hearts  aflame.  Men  want 
to  hear  preachers  who  are  so  possessed  by  their  theme  that  they 
cannot  be  mild-manered  men  in  the  pulpit.  The  Church  covets 
preachers  ‘‘whose  hearts  glow  while  their  intellects  shine;  who 
feel  deeply,  as  well  as  think  profoundly;  men  whose  hearts  and 
minds  quiver  with  the  earnestness  of  the  age  and  sympathize  with 
the  all-pervading  excitement  moving  the  world  around  them ; who 
come  forth  to  the  people,  like  Moses  from  the  mount,  glowing 
with  inspirations  and  burning  with  messages;  who,  when  they 
speak,  cause  the  people  to  cover  their  faces  and  say,  ‘Lo,  God 
hath  spoken.’  ” 

The  Church  also  has  a right  to  demand  that  the  preacher 
of  this  age  preach  with  the  courage  which  the  times  require. 
This  is  no  era  for  opportunists  in  the  pulpit.  There  never  was 
an  age  when  a coward  Avas  not  out  of  place  in  a Christian  pulpit. 
But  no  generation  of  preachers  ever  faced  a more  glorious  oppor- 
tunity for  moral  heroism.  Channing  once  Avrote  to  a young 
preacher:  “Preach  Avhat  jmu  count  great  truths  frankly,  strongly, 
boldly.  Put  faith  in  truth  as  mightier  than  error,  prejudice,  or 
passion,  and  be  ready  to  take  a place  among  its  martyrs.”  Truth 
is  seldom  committed  to  the  keeping  of  the  crowd.  It  must  not  be 
sought  there.  The  popular  side  of  a question  is  not  always  the 
right  side,  nor  the  place  where  the  minister  should  be  found. 
LoAA'ell,  in  one  of  his  attacks  upon  the  Church  for  its  apparent 
lack  of  sympathy  with  the  anti-slavery  movement,  says  that  it 
should  not  wait  until  the  abolitionists,  by  working  a change  in 
the  sentiment  of  the  people,  have  convinced  it  that  it  is  more 
politic  to  sympathize  with  the  slave  than  Avith  the  slave-owner 
before  it  ventures  to  lisp  the  alphabet  of  anti-slavery.  The  glori- 
ous privilege  of  leading  the  forlorn  hope  of  truth,  of  facing  the 
desperate  waves  of  prejudice,  of  making  itself  vile  in  the  eyes  of 
men  by  choosing  the  humblest  means  of  serving  the  despised 
cause  of  the  Master  it  professes  to  worship — all  these  belong  to  it 
in  the  right  of  the  position  it  assumes.  And  then  he  calls  upon 

22 


THE  MAKING  OP  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


the  ministers  and  priests  of  the  Chnrch  to  produce  certificates  of 
martyrdom  before  he  will  accept  the  claims  which  they  set  up 
for  themselves  or  respect  the  rights  which  they  arrogate  to  them- 
selves. Men  now  are  asking  for  similar  certificates.  And  unless 
our  prophets  are  willing,  if  need  be,  to  suffer  for  the  sake  of 
Christ,  they  are  out  of  place  in  the  Christian  pulpit.  When 
Robertson  of  Brighton  was  warned  by  a woman  that  his  doctrine 
would  expose  him  to  ostracism  by  the  authorities  of  the  Church 
of  England,  he  replied  with  calmness,  “I  do  not  care.”  “But, 
Dr.  Robertson,”  was  the  ominous  warning,  “do  you  remember 
where  ‘don’t  care’  brought  the  man?”  “Yes,”  he  replied  with 
great  seriousness,  “to  a cross.”  Ah,  but  that  is  the  chance  which 
the  modern  preacher  must  be  willing  to  take  for  the  gospel’s  sake, 
that  the  road  he  must  he  willing  to  travel  for  the  sake  of  his  Lord. 

Who  fails  to  strike  when  man’s  assailed. 

For  fear  of  selfish  pain  or  loss; 

Who  weakly  cowers  when  right  is  nailed 
Upon  the  proud  world’s  heavy  cross; 

Who  fails  to  speak  the  splendid  word 
Of  bold  defiance  to  a lie; 

Mdiose  voice  for  truth  is  faintly  heard 
When  party  passions  mount  on  high ; 

Who  dares  no  struggling  cause  espouse, 

■Who  loves  no  paths  by  martyrs  trod; 

AVhose  timorous  soul  no  call  can  rouse 
To  dare  to  stand  alone  with  God — 

That  man  is  coward,  and  no  deeds 
Of  valor  done,  on  fields  of  strife 

Can  prove  his  courage.  Battle  meeds 
Are  naught  beside  a wasted  life. 

Who  dallies  with  temptation’s  lure. 

Nor  hurls  his  tempter  to  the  ground; 

Who  champions  not  the  weak,  the  poor. 

Whom  power  and  strength  with  cords  have  bound ; 

Who  bows  obsequious  to  the  strong. 

And  crushes  Avhat  he  knows  is  Aveak ; 

Who  palters  with  a deadly  wrong. 

And  dares  no  vengeance  on  it  Avreak ; 

23 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


Who  crouches  ’neath  opinion’s  lash, 

Nor  dares  his  own  true  thought  proclaim; 

Who  never  with  an  impulse  rash 
Ran  on  before  his  time — is  tame, 

Is  coward,  and  no  work  uprears 
Which  lasts.  God’s  edict  from  on  high 
Says  courage  shall  outlast  the  years. 

But  every  coward  soul  shall  die. 

The  Church  has  a right  to  demand  even  more  than  this.  It 
may  say  to  a man  who  aspires  to  preach,  as  a prerequisite  to 
effective  preaching,  ‘‘You  must  be  reasonably  sure  that  the  pul- 
pit is  your  place,  that  you  come  to  it  by  divine  summons.”  I 
want  just  here  “to  put  in  an  energetic  testimony,”  using  the 
strong  words  of  Nathaniel  J.  Burton,  “in  behalf  of  God’s  direct 
and  explicit  part  in  the  calling  of  his  servants  and  ambassadors.” 
I do  this  because  there  is  a growing  tendency  to  decry  the  neces- 
sity of  a “call”  to  preach.  Some  religious  leaders  are  saying  that 
there  is  no  justification  for  divorcing  the  call  to  the  Christian 
ministry  from  the  other  calls  that  come  to  men,  no  warrant  for 
requiring  as  a condition  of  entering  upon  the  ministry  a call 
different  in  quality  or  in  quantity  from  that  with  which  men  are 
content  to  take  up,  under  the  will  of  God,  any  other  duty  to  his 
glory.  It  may  be.  I have  no  desire  to  debate  the  matter  at  this 
time,  or  even  to  consider  the  nature  of  the  call  beyond  this,  that 
in  general  it  is  a persuasion  wrought  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
mind  of  an  individual  that  it  is  his  duty  to  become  a preacher  of 
the  gospel,  a profound  and  persistent  conviction  of  duty,  such  as 
John  Bunyan  felt,  “a  secret  pricking  forward,”  so  insistent,  so 
relentless,  that  he  “could  not  be  content  nnless  he  was  found  in 
the  exercise  of  his  gift.”  So  long  as  the  “call”  to  the  ministry  is 
a call  to  self-abandonment  for  the  sake  of  others,  and  not  to 
money-making,  so  long  as  it  is  a call  to  tasks  the  emoluments  of 
which  are  not  equal  to  the  fruits  of  toil  no  more  exacting  in  other 
fields,  so  long  will  the  call  to  the  Christian  ministry  differ  from 
calls  to  other  vocations.  It  is  not  that  the  office  is  a “sacred 
office,”  but  that  the  task  is  a “high  calling  in  Christ  Jesus,”  judged 

24 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODEKN  MINISTER 


by  world  standards  at  least.  If  the  world’s  conception  of  a call- 
ing is  the  opportunity  which  it  affords  for  accumulating  wealth, 
and  men  deliberately  turn  from  all  such  open  doors  and  enter 
upon  a life  of  self-renunciation,  forswearing  all  thoughts  of  ade- 
quate remuneration  and  hope  of  overflowing  barns,  then  the  call 
which  alarms  their  souls  to  the  point  of  ‘‘Woe  is  me,  if  I preach 
not,”  is  somehow  different  from  the  thousand  luring  voices  which 
draw  other  men  into  commercial  life  and  other  remunerative  ac- 
tivities. The  call  to  preach  need  not  be  miraculous,  it  probably 
will  not  be,  but  it  must  be  divine.  The  pulpit  is  no  place  for  a 
man  who  has  not  a profound  conviction  that  he  has  been  sepa- 
rated unto  the  gospel  of  God. 

The  Church  is  wise  also  in  requiring  that  the  preacher  have 
knowledge  of  the  age  to  which  he  would  speak.  The  age  is  a new 
age.  Every  age  is  a new  age.  Does  the  preacher  know  his  age? 
What  will  be  his  attitude  toward  it?  Will  it  be  mediaeval  or 
modern?  The  most  commonplace  objection  urged  against  semi- 
nary training  is  that  the  training  is  cloistral.  Of  all  jests  the  most 
threadbare  is  that  designation  of  the  theological  seminary  as 
the  theological  “cemetery,”  as  if  it  were  a place  of  the  dead,  a 
valley  of  dry  bones,  worn-out  theories,  lifeless  instruction,  a 
veritable  charnel-house  of  dead  things.  There  may  have  been  some 
ground  in  the  past  for  the  feeling  that  theological  professors  have 
lacked  a necessary  contact  with  life,  and  that  students  have 
dwelt  apart  from  the  world.  Paul  Sabatier  says  that  in  France 
all  the  education  a boy  destined  for  the  priesthood  receives  seems 
to  have  for  its  aim  the  setting  up  of  a wall  of  separation  between 
him  and  his  fellow  men;  that  the  young  priests  in  Paris,  when 
they  come  out  of  Saint  Sulpice,  have  never  had  a single  news- 
paper at  their  disposal,  and  that  the  men  who  are  called  to  evan- 
gelize the  France  of  to-day  are  wholly  ignorant  of  her.  That  must 
not  be  true  of  men  here  who  are  preparing  for  a modern  ministry. 

Every  age  has  its  peculiar  temptations,  its  own  errors,  its 
regnant  sins;  is  marked  by  its  own  atmosphere,  its  own  intel- 
lectual moods,  and  its  own  habits  of  thought.  These  the  preacher 

25 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 

must  kuow,  if  he  would  preach  a gospel  to  which  men  will  listen. 
And  it  ought  not  to  be  difficult  to  know  the  world  of  to-day : ‘‘a 
world  filled  with  a passion  for  knowledge,  insistent  upon  facts, 
seeking  laws  and  the  control  of  powers;  a world  reduced  to  a 
neighborhood,  with  huddled  aggregations,  close  intimacies,  in- 
creasing interdependencies,  bewildering  complexities;  a world  of 
new  economic,  industrial,  and  social  relations,  with  complicated 
ethics,  and  withal  so  much  to  be  thought  about  and  done  that  in 
the  very  moment  science  would  make  all  clear  and  orderly,  there 
is  distressing  confusion  and  bewilderment.”  All  the  currents  of 
daily  life  and  thought  in  the  world  to-day  flow  past  our  door 
here.  The  location  of  this  Seminary  is  superb.  It  could  not  well 
be  surpassed,  placed  as  it  is  here  on  the  uplands,  in  the  midst  of 
these  glorious  trees,  where  one  can  look  out  upon  long  stretches 
of  fair  landscapes,  on  to  the  far  northern  hills,  and  west  to  the 
edge  of  sunset;  near  enough  to  the  metropolis  to  see  the  glare  of 
its  lights  on  the  evening  sky,  and  yet  far  enough  away  from  th(i 
blazing  signs  of  its  thoroughfares  to  permit  one  to  look  at  the 
shining  stars;  near  enough  to  enjoy  its  royal  opportunities  for 
investigation  and  culture,  far  enough  removed  not  to  be  harassed 
and  thwarted  by  its  myriads  of  imperious  diversions ; near  enough 
to  share  in  all  its  desirable  benefits,  but  far  enough  away  not  to 
be  mastered  by  its  thousand  baneful  influences;  near  enough 
to  hear  the  wail  of  misery  and  the  cry  of  the  oppressed,  to  see 
the  degradation  of  poverty  and  the  appalling  menace  of  evil,  and 
to  feel  the  city’s  manifold  manifestations  of  life  and  power,  an<l 
just  beyond  the  gripping  reach  of  its  clangor  and  confusion,  its 
turbulence  and  haste,  its  foment  and  depression;  near  enough 
to  share  in  the  labors  of  God’s  people  for  the  relief  of  suffering 
and  the  cure  of  sin,  and  far  enough  away  to  enable  one  to  pray 
in  quietness  and  meditate  in  peace.  Situated  as  this  Seminary 
is,  it  has  the  advantages  of  both  city  and  country,  with  oppor- 
tunities for  the  study  of  the  distinct  problems,  alike  important, 
of  urban,  suburban,  and  country  life,  and  of  gaining  experience 
in  these  several  fields.  There  is  no  reason  Avhy  from  such  a center 

26 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  :MINISTER 


as  this  students  may  not  keej)  in  closest  touch  with  the  activities 
of  modern  life  and  the  currents  of  modern  thought.  And  unless 
the  preacher  does  know  his  age,  the  essential  element  of  timeli- 
ness in  preaching  will  be  lacking.  Eveiw  generation  is  unique 
and  must  have  its  own  sympathetic  interpreter.  The  acceptable 
preacher  must  know  his  age. 

Again,  the  Church  has  a right  to  say  to  the  Seminary,  ‘‘The 
preacher  you  train  for  us  must  know  his  theme.”  There  is  a 
theme  for  the  Christian  pulpit.  “The  gospel  which  was  preached 
of  me,”  wrote  Paul,  “is  not  after  man,  for  I neither  received  it 
of  man,  neither  was  I taught  it,  but  by  the  revelation  of  Jesus 
Christ.”  And  again,  “It  pleased  God,  avIio  . . . called  me  by 
his  grace,  to  reveal  his  Son  in  me,  that  I might  preach  him  among 
the  heathen.”  Christianity  has  to  do  with  a Name. 

Jesus,  the  name  high  over  all. 

In  hell,  or  earth,  or  sky; 

Angels  and  men  before  it  fall. 

And  devils  fear  and  fly. 

This  is  alike  the  preacher’s  theme  and  the  source  of  the  preacher’s 
power. 

Happy,  if  with  my  latest  breath 
I may  but  gasp  his  name; 

Preach  him  to  all,  and  cry  in  death. 

Behold,  behold  the  Lamb ! 

This  is  the  true  preacher’s  hope  and  prayer.  Tenn^'son,  absent 
on  a journey,  wrote  in  one  of  his  letters  to  dear  Emily  Sellwood, 
whom  he  afterward  married : “I  am  housed  with  a Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wildman,  old  friends  of  mine  in  these  parts,  two  good  Methodists. 
When  I came  in  and  asked,  ‘What’s  the  news?’  Mrs.  Wildman 
answered, ‘I  know  of  but  one  piece  of  news,  iMr.  Tennyson,  and  that 
is  that  Jesus  Christ  died  for  all  men.’  And  I replied,  ‘That  is  old 
news  and  good  news  and  new  news.’  ” And  it  is  new  news  and 
good  news  to  every  generation.  It  is  the  heart  of  the  gospel.  Jesus 
Christ  a personal  Saviour,  a world  redeemer,  is  the  living  heart  of 

27 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 

the  Bible,  xind  here  in  Drew  Theological  Seminary  we  believe  in 
the  Bible  as  a valid  revelation  of  God’s  purpose  in  history  and 
redemption  and  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  incarnate  Word,  very  God 
and  veiy  man.  Methodism  from  the  beginning  has  been  a con- 
viction. It  was  the  “faith”  of  the  fathers  which  gave  them  their 
power.  Methodism  has  afhrmed,  but  not  more  than  Christianity 
has  affirmed.  Its  affirmations  have  been,  not  of  dogma,  but  of 
truths  personally  experienced.  After  his  Aldersgate  experience, 
John  Wesley  wrote;  “I  soon  began  to  see  that  true  religion  was 
seated  in  the  heart.”  This  is  not  unlike  Jeremy  Taylor’s  con- 
clusion, as  given  in  his  “Holy  Living  and  Holy  Dying” ; “Theology 
is  rather  a divine  life  than  a divine  knowledge.”  Methodism  was 
not  a new  theologj',  though  its  preaching  was  in  a very  real  sense 
doctrinal.  The  early  itinerants  announced  a few  truths,  drawn 
directly  from  the  Scriptures;  personally  experienced,  and  there- 
fore mightily  believed.  I make  no  contention  that  these  doctrines 
were  preached  in  a scholastic  or  scientific  manner.  Birrell  is 
careful  to  say  that  “as  a writer  Wesley  has  not  achieved  distinc- 
tion. He  was  no  Athanasius,  no  Augustine;  he  was  ever  a 
preacher.”  Granted.  Wesley’s  business  was  not  to  define  or 
systematize  metaphysical  theology.  Yet  there  were  certain  doc- 
trinal teachings  which  he  believed,  and  believed  tremendously, 
and  these  convictions  he  declared  with  all  the  earnestness  and 
energy  of  his  wonderful  personality.  And  when  preaching  ceases 
to  be  an  announcement,  it  ceases  to  be  preaching.  Archbishop 
Leighton  was  once  reprimanded  “for  not  preaching  up  the  times.” 
“Who,”  he  asked,  “does  preach  up  the  times?”  “All  the  breth- 
ren,” was  the  reply.  “Then,”  remarked  he,  “if  all  of  you  preach 
up  the  times,  you  may  surely  allow  one  poor  brother  to  preach 
up  Jesus  Christ  and  eternity.”  But  Archbishop  Leighton  lived 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  not  in  the  twentieth.  Y^et  even  in 
this  latest  century  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  preacher 
“is  not  first  a prophet  of  social  righteousness,  but  an  apostle  of 
the  gospel.  He  is  not  merely  an  agent  of  the  ethical  kingdom. 
Every  Christian  is  that.”  But  when  he  enters  upon  the  ministry 

28 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


of  Jesus  Christ  as  his  lifework,  it  is  with  the  understanding  that 
he  is  to  be  the  herald  of  a great  eternal  fact,  and  that  this  is  the 
purpose  of  his  ministry. 

Much  is  being  said  these  days  about  a new  theology.  Pro- 
gressiveness is  the  cry  of  the  hour,  and  I do  not  hesitate  to  say 
that  I am  in  fullest  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  the  term.  I may 
not  be  willing  to  accept  every  definition  of  it  made  by  political 
leaders  or  religious  teachers.  It  is  a term  capable  alike  of  wan- 
ton misuse  and  of  endless  colorings.  Dean  Swift  would  have 
found  in  it  in  concentrated  form  another  “Tale  of  a Tub.”  You 
can  read  into  it  about  what  you  like  and  then  take  from  it  the 
same  sort  or  another  substance.  Vaguely  defined  and  with  even 
more  indefinite  limitations,  nevertheless  as  an  attitude  of  mind 
and  as  a method  of  procedure  it  deserves  our  heartiest  assent. 
More  than  this,  I have  a profound  conviction  that  there  are 
changes  of  modes  and  habits  of  thought  and  methods  of  work 
which  are  imperative.  The  curriculum  of  a generation  ago  will 
not  answer  the  needs  of  this  present  time.  Some  of  the  phrases 
of  yesterday  are  already  obsolete,  just  as  most  of  the  books  of 
yesterday  are  unread.  Truth  is  not  made  falsehood  by  restate- 
ment in  terms  intelligible  to  a new  generation,  nor  is  an  enlarged 
vision  inevitably  destructive  of  former  ideas.  A change  of  view- 
point does  not  necessarily  mean  a change  of  opinion.  An  open 
mind  is  quite  as  likely  to  result  in  stronger  convictions  as  it  is 
to  loosen  one’s  hold  of  a judgment  earlier  formed.  Nothing  is 
gained  through  aversion  to  new  facts.  Moreover,  there  is  a dis- 
tinct loss.  Many  a man  has  failed  of  a new  joy  through  the  in- 
flexibility of  routine  or  of  habitual  processes  of  thought.  Stand- 
ing one  day  on  the  bridge  of  an  ocean  steamer,  talking  with  the 
first  officer  concerning  the  men  in  the  lookout,  he  told  me  that 
every  morning  before  the  day  dawned  one  of  them  would  invari- 
ably cry,  “Light  on  the  starboard.”  It  was  Venus,  the  morning 
star,  rising,  and  the  man  thought  it  only  the  light  of  another 
ship.  Habit  was  strong  with  him.  No  generation  has  the  final 
truth  concerning  all  things. 


29 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 

The  last  word  has  not  yet  been  spoken  concerning  God,  or 
Christ,  or  immortality,  or  life,  or  the  Bible.  We  know  full  well 
that  theology  is  no  exception  to  the  universal  law  that  each  age 
must  express  its  own  acceptance  of  its  whole  inheritance  of  the 
past  in  terms  which  it  can  understand  and  can  bring  others  to 
understand.  We  must  interpret  to  this  age  the  message  and  the 
mission  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  do  this  demands  of  us  adequate 
knowledge  not  only  of  the  message  and  of  the  mission,  but,  as 
I have  said,  adequate  knowledge  of  and  sympathy  with  the  age. 
Nothing  that  the  world  has  learned  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
through  the  application  of  any  of  the  newer  tools  or  methods  is 
foreign  to  us,  and  I have  no  fears  that  any  new  explorations  will 
undermine  our  faith.  This  Seminary  faces  forward,  and  not 
backward,  and  is  hopefully  committed  to  a policy  which  shall  not 
only  do  full  justice  to  the  learning  of  this  present  age,  but 
shall  also  seek  to  contribute  to  its  advance  through  the  papers 
and  books  of  its  professors.  But  of  the  fidelity  of  this  Seminary 
to  its  Lord  and  Master  in  his  person,  and  to  his  gospel  of  salva- 
tion, no  man  has  doubted,  no  man  can  doubt.  Years  ago  it  was 
baptized  into  a spirit  of  loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ,  of  obedience  to 
his  implicit  command  to  disciple  all  nations,  of  a zealous  evangel- 
ism for  all  peoples  and  all  lands.  The  traditions  and  associations 
of  this  Seminary  are  those  of  an  evangelical  past.  We  must  not 
break  with  them.  We  will  not  break  with  them.  We  will  be 
unfailingly  true  to  the  faith  of  our  fathers  as  they  were  true  to 
the  faith  of  their  fathers.  In  his  preface  to  the  life  of  John  Mc- 
Clintock,  the  first  president  of  this  school,  and  the  organizer  of  its 
course  of  instruction,  George  R.  Crooks  said ; ‘‘With  all  his  grow- 
ing, Dr.  McClintock  never  outgrew  the  creed  which  he  inherited 
from  his  fathers.  His  highest  aspiration  was  to  be  a Bible  Chris- 
tian. For  him  the  announcement  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into 
the  world  to  save  sinners  had  a meaning  which  neither  philosophy 
nor  improved  theology  could  for  a moment  obscure.”  And  men 
must  be  able  to  say  this  of  us  also.  If  we  preach  or  teach  any 
other  gospel  than  that  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world 

30 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


unto  himself,  if  we  glory  other  than  in  the  wondrous  cross  on 
which  Jesus,  our  Lord,  died,  may  we  be  anathema. 

I have  tried  thus  to  indicate  what  I regard  as  our  task  and 
to  make  plain  what  I consider  the  chief  objective  of  seminary 
training.  But  it  is  not  the  only  objective.  The  men  w^ho  come 
here  must  have  training  in  business  methods,  in  church  finance, 
in  organization  of  committees  and  societies,  instruction  in  the 
principles  of  religious  education,  in  religious  psychology",  in  so- 
ciology, and  the  history  and  philosophy  of  Christian  missions, 
in  music  and  hygiene,  in  apologetics  and  comparative  religion, 
in  the  precepts  of  the  pastoral  life,  and  in  the  daily  practice  of  the 
presence  of  God,  and  in  all  other  matters  which  will  make  them 
acceptable  and  successful  ministers  of  Christ.  But  as  the  su- 
preme business  of  the  minister  is  to  preach,  the  entire  curriculum 
must  be  arranged  to  this  end.  Doubtless  our  views  of  the  possi- 
bilities and  duties  of  the  school  will  have  to  undergo  modifica- 
tions. Then  this  will  be  done.  If  the  ideals  of  training  for  the 
ministry  which  were  adequate  when  the  Seminary  was  founded 
are  not  sufficiently  broad  to-day,  then  they  must  be  broadened.  It 
is  inevitable  that  there  should  be  readjustments  of  the  curricu- 
lum. An  attempt  has  already  been  made  to  relate  the  courses 
offered  to  the  new  conditions  of  modern  society,  but  there  are 
yet  many  problems  of  theological  training,  problems  of  instruc- 
tion— for  instance,  whatever  our  own  feeling  may  be  as  to  Hebrew 
and  Greek  and  some  other  branches  of  theological  science,  it  is 
certain  there  must  be  here  provision  for  a choice  between  courses 
of  study.  Some  men  have  no  genius  for  languages.  They  will 
gain  nothing  from  Hebrew  and  Greek  beyond  the  grim  satisfac- 
tion of  drudgery  lived  through  without  complaint  and  of  pain 
nobly  borne.  For  all  such  there  must  be  optional  courses.  There 
are  problems  of  student  supply  work.  Ought  not  such  experience 
be  made  a part  of  the  education  rather  than  merely  the  means  of 
maintaining  oneself  while  in  the  Seminary?  And  there  are  ever 
menacing  problems  of  support,  support  of  the  men  and  main- 
tenance of  the  school.  Most  of  the  candidates  for  the  ministry  in  all 

31 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


denominations  are  recruited  from  among  the  poor.  Not  many  rich 
are  called.  The  necessity  of  assistance  during  the  3'ears  of  scho- 
lastic preparation  is  increasingly  great.  How  it  can  be  given  with- 
out working  injury  is  a question  on  which  good  men  differ.  That 
money  should  be  given  at  all,  wdthout  some  compensatory  return, 
is  hostile  to  my  opinion.  I would  much  prefer  to  offer  scholar- 
ships, the  recipients  of  which  would  be  required  as  a condition  of 
holding  them  to  give  regular  time  and  labor  to  designated  fields 
in  towm  or  country.  Such  scholarships  would  be  valuable  alike 
for  the  practical  experience  gained  and  for  the  preservation  of 
self-respect.  Then  there  is  the  problem  of  a larger  income,  more 
annual  contributions,  a worthier  endowment,  to  make  possible  a 
vaster  school.  Bricks  cannot  yet  be  made  without  straw.  Schools 
cannot  offer  increased  facilities,  or  in  other  ways  meet  modern 
demands  for  enlargement,  without  greater  resources.  What  finan- 
cial chance  has  theological  education  had  the  last  quarter  of  a 
century?  How  many  people  have  been  interested  in  the  modern 
development  of  theological  schools?  When  have  you  heard  in  any 
Methodist  Church,  or  on  any  platform,  a specific  appeal  for  bet- 
ter support  for  our  theological  seminaries?  Who  has  established 
a fund  anywhere  for  the  pensioning  of  the  teachers  of  schools  of 
theology?  Colleges  have  been  endowed  during  the  past  decade. 
Vast  sums  have  been  given  to  universities.  Other  technical 
schools  have  been  made  rich  by  lavish  gifts.  But  theological 
schools,  with  few  exceptions,  have  been  left  almost  to  grind  at 
the  mills  of  poverty.  Is  it  not  about  time  that  theological  eduai- 
tion  be  given  its  chance?  There  ought  to  be  no  vexing  problem  of 
finance  here.  What  my  colleagues  feel  should  be  done  in  this 
school  for  the  better  training  of  the  ministers  of  this  new  day 
we  ought  to  be  able  to  do  in  the  largest  possible  way,  unhampered 
by  lack  of  funds,  and  without  harassing  fear.  And  I have  every 
confidence  that  the  friends  of  this  institution,  who  have  never 
yet  failed  it,  will  not  fail  it  noAV  when  we  need  larger  resources 
for  a larger  work. 

And  we  must  do  an  increasingly  greater  and  farther-reach- 


THE  ^ilAKING  OE  THE  iMODEKN  MINISTER 


ing  work.  The  spirit  of  tlie  place,  one  of  its  largest  assets,  sub- 
tle, intangible,  indefinable,  must  bless  not  only  the  men  in  resi- 
dence, but  those  who  are  in  the  vineyard  at  work.  What  influ- 
ence shall  this  seminary  exert  upon  that  little  church  out  there 
in  the  mining  region  of  the  far  West,  or  upon  the  country  parishes 
of  a half  hundred  States?  It  belongs  to  them  all,  it  must  have 
some  ministry  of  help  for  them  all.  What  of  our  relation  to  our 
Alumni  in  every  Conference  of  the  Church  and  in  every  land? 
Did  our  obligation  to  them  cease  when  they  were  handed  their 
diplomas?  As  I conceive  it,  this  school  ought  still  to  be  a large 
factor  in  the  life  and  activities  of  its  sons  in  the  gospel,  and  has 
a distinct  mission  to  the  hundreds  of  untrained  men  now  in  the 
ministry  of  the  Church,  for  we  have  not  yet  what  many  leaders 
through  many  years  have  pleaded  for,  a thoroughly  trained  min- 
istry, as  I could  easily  show.  One  or  two  items,  however,  will 
suffice.  Last  year  a large  Conference  in  New  York  State  received 
eleven  men  on  trial,  one  of  whom  had  graduated  from  college, 
and  no  one  of  whom  had  had  any  seminary  training  whatever. 
An  Ohio  Conference  admitted  nine,  a Pennsylvania  Conference 
eight,  a Colorado  Conference  seven,  and  not  one  of  them  a col- 
lege or  seminary  graduate,  and  two  great  Conferences  in  Illinois 
received  thirty-four  men,  and  but  one  a college  man  and  one  other 
a graduate  in  both  college  and  theological  courses.  Such  ap- 
palling facts  incline  me  to  feel  that  this  great  institution  has  an 
important  mission  to  the  probationers  of  our  Conferences  and 
to  the  hundreds  of  other  young  preachers  who  for  one  reason  or 
another  have  been  deprived  of  educational  privileges.  We  ought 
from  this  center  to  do  both  continuation  and  extension  work,  and 
we  will. 

And  now  this  last  word.  Creditable  as  have  been  the  achieve- 
ments of  this  school  in  the  past,  and  here  have  been  trained 
notable  preachers,  not  a few  of  whom  are  now  occupying  the  con- 
spicuous pulpits  of  the  denomination.  Here  also  have  been 
trained  great  scholars,  and  great  ecclesiastics.  From  these  halls 
have  gone  men  who  are  in  the  forefront  of  the  missionary  ven- 

33 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MODERN  MINISTER 


tures  of  the  Church  at  home  and  abroad,  and  if  there  be  one  thing 
of  which  we  have  a right  to  he  proud,  it  is  of  the  men  who  have 
gone  with  swift,  eager  feet  to  the  far  lands,  India,  Japan,  Korea, 
China,  Italj^,  Africa,  South  America,  Burma,  France,  Russia, 
everywhere,  in  Christ’s  name  and  for  his  glory.  Here,  too,  have 
been  trained  leaders  of  religious  education  movements  of  large 
significance,  distinguished  editors  of  denominational  papers  and 
other  publications,  and  countless  loyal  ministers  in  country 
parishes  who  are  doing  the  work  of  strong  men  in  difficult  places. 
The  record  of  this  school  is  a glorious  one,  but  noteworthy  as  has 
been  our  history,  it  is  not  as  though  we  have  already  attained, 
but  by  God’s  good  grace  we  press  forward,  and  to-day,  by  the 
memory  of  McClintock,  and  Nadal,  and  Foster,  and  Hurst,  and 
Kidder,  and  Strong,  and  Miley,  and  Crooks,  and  Upham,  and  by 
the  example  and  career  of  the  Saint  John  of  the  Church,  Henry 
Anson  Buttz,  and  on  behalf  of  myself  and  my  colleagues,  I pledge 
you  and  the  Church  absolute  loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ  for  all 
worthy  enterprises  in  theological  education  and  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  men,  the  regeneration  of  society,  and  the  conquest  of  the 
world.  And  may  the  great  Teacher  teach  us,  that  we  may  teach 
and  inspire  the  men  who  will  lead  the  hosts  of  God  on  the  field 
to-morrow. 


34 


I 


